CARIBBEAN CHILDREN RAISE THEIR VOICES TO CHANGE THE
LIVES OF 150 MILLION CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
By Nichole Murray
UNICEF, El Salvador, September 4, 2008 - With just a few brief questions
mainly on youth participation and how it can impact their development, twentytwo representative adolescent communicators from Latin America and the
Caribbean to Governors at the Third Ibero-American Forum of Local
Governments may have influenced the dialogue on issues that affect 150 million
children and adolescents in Ibero-American countries.
Adolescent communicators from across the LAC, attending the UNICEF
Intercultural Workshop of Youth Communicators in El Salvador, today
participated in the 3rd Ibero-American Local Government Forum for Governors,
Mayors and other municipal officials. Following the opening ceremony which
saw a number of introductory speeches from Municipality Governors, the youths
made good use of an opportunity to talk with three participating officials during a
brief press meeting organized specifically for them.
Present at the press conference were Dr. Violeta Menjivar, Mayor of San
Salvador, Mr. Anibal Melendez Revera, representative Mayor of Puerto Rico and
Mr. Antonio Coro, representative Mayor of a municipality of Guatemala.
The young people sought answers related to the purpose of the forum and the
main goals. They also questioned the officials on the major issues affecting youth
and asked those present about expected results.
In response, Mayor Menjivar said that each government has come up with
guidelines and that youth must demand as much as possible from their
Governments, which will force them to comply with the stated guidelines. She
mentioned that although the local governments were meeting, that many of the
issues affecting the youth, such as education and health, need to be addressed
by national governments first.
Asked about opportunities and programmes for indigenous peoples, the San
Salvadorian Mayor said that there are plans in place to reach them, adding that
“The youth need to get involved in programmes, get out there and make their
voices heard.”
The forum which concludes tomorrow for the first time focuses on youth and has
a large youth delegation. Held under the theme, “Youth, Development and Local
Public Policies” the meeting was attended by 92 delegates from 22 countries
from the western hemisphere, who made commitments to create programmes for
the benefit of youth under their political charge.
Regional network formed as Intercultural Workshop concludes
Meanwhile, the UNICEF workshop for adolescent communicators also concluded
today after the participants reviewed productions in television, radio and print
based on the interviews and coverage of the 3rd IberoAmerican Conference.
They also agreed on the guidelines for the regional adolescent communicators’
network, and together named it LACVOX, meaning Latin American and
Caribbean Voices.
As they all leave for various Caribbean and Latin American destinations the
children pledged to continue working together, sharing experiences, raising their
voices and providing their peers with a platform from which their voices can be
heard. The children and adolescent regional intercultural communicator network
is one of the forms of participation that UNICEF and its allies promote. UNICEF
also promotes the equal right to expression as a framework that empowers and
promotes their development.
Youth journalists interview the Mayor and officials.
Youth journalists interview panelists